Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has sharply criticized President Bola Tinubu’s recent address to the nation concerning the ongoing protests.
In a statement released on Sunday, Soyinka voiced his disappointment and concern over the government’s handling of the demonstrations.
Soyinka noted that while Tinubu outlined the government’s actions since taking office, the address failed to adequately address the management of the protests. He condemned the use of live bullets and tear gas against peaceful protesters, describing it as a “retrogression” to colonial-era disdain.
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“I set my alarm clock for this morning to ensure that I did not miss President Bola Tinubu’s impatiently awaited address to the nation on the current unrest across the nation,” Soyinka stated. “His outline of government’s remedial action since inception, aimed at warding off just such an outbreak, will undoubtedly receive expert and sustained attention both for effectiveness and in content analysis. My primary concern, quite predictably, is the continuing deterioration of the state’s seizure of protest management, an area in which the presidential address fell conspicuously short.”
Soyinka argued that the government’s response arms security forces with a sense of impunity, perpetuating a cycle of resentment and reprisals. He highlighted the inappropriate use of live bullets and tear gas, particularly in peaceful protests, and compared the current situation to colonial-era actions.
“Hunger marches constitute a universal S.O.S, not peculiar to the Nigerian nation. They serve as summons to governance that a breaking point has been reached and thus, a testing ground for governance awareness of public desperation. The tragic response to the ongoing hunger marches in parts of the nation, and for which notice was served, constitutes a retrogression that takes the nation even further back than the deadly culmination of the watershed ENDSARS protests.”
Soyinka also referenced alternative models of protest management, citing the French Yellow Vest movement as an example where firearms were not used against protesters. He emphasized the need for Nigeria to abandon lethal responses to civic protests and suggested a reflection on historical lessons to transform governance and break the cycle of violence.
“The serving of bullets where bread is pleaded is ominous retrogression, and we know what that eventually proves – a prelude to far more desperate upheavals, not excluding revolutions. Today’s marchers may wish to consider adopting the key songs of Hubert Ogunde’s BREAD AND BULLETS, if only to inculcate a sense of shame in the continuing failure to transcend the lure of colonial inheritance where we all were at the receiving end. One way or the other, this vicious cycle must be broken.”
